17 WORLD

Global Images SECU DAILY PLANET AT THE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCEs - See Page 24

California Traffic Page 21 Scottish Media CentRE Page 8 Singapore shipwreck Page 31 Turkey Planetarium Page 50 WORLD 17

WFOE in CHINA Electrosonic has had a representative office in China for several years. It was an essential resource when Welcome Electrosonic was undertaking several projects at EXPO 2010 (as reported in ELECTROSONIC WORLD to the 17th Edition of No 16). However, it was not able to trade in China ELECTROSONIC WORLD. - all invoicing had to be in foreign currencies, and The “occasional publication” involved much bureaucracy. from Electrosonic that In 2012, Electrosonic’s Shanghai office was reviews some of the many designated a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise projects undertaken by (WFOE), an officially registered limited liability the company over the corporation. This important step forward allows past couple of years. Electrosonic to continue to pursue new business It is unfortunately the opportunities in China as a legally licensed design case that a single publication cannot give a wholly consulting and systems integration company, able to balanced picture of the company’s business since the invoice in local currency, while maintaining full control majority of corporate customers, and a handful of of business operations. entertainment customers, do not allow information Electrosonic’s China operations conducts business about their projects to be published. Nonetheless under the new legal name, Electrosonic Audio- the sheer variety of the projects, both in terms of Visual Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. It is currently geography and technology, described in this issue will working with major owner-operators, and design give a good idea of the company’s broad experience and production companies, as well as developing and capabilities. partnerships with local suppliers, fabricators and installers. Electrosonic also maintains a Hong Kong ELECTROSONIC WORLD No 16 described how office for support and production. Electrosonic had withdrawn from its product business, and had invested heavily in expanding its presence in its core markets. These remain broadly “Corporate Solutions”, “Entertainment” and “Control Rooms”. Winning Ways However, the acquisition of Global Immersion, Industry awards are of different described on Page 4, has introduced a new market kinds; they may recognize for Electrosonic, which, while sharing many aspects individual projects, or companies, of technology and expertise with existing markets, or particular creative skills. requires dedicated market knowledge and some Electrosonic is pleased to be associated with some award winning projects, but unique capabilities. Thus Electrosonic, through its always recognizes that it is a team member, and that Global Immersion division, is now serving the needs of credit is also due to many others. The feature on the Giant Screen Cinemas and Planetariums. THEA Awards, on Page 46, makes this point.

This edition of ELECTROSONIC WORLD is being The AV Awards, run in the UK by AV Magazine, published less than a year before Electrosonic are recognized as rigorously judged awards and celebrates its 50th Anniversary – the company was Electrosonic is proud to have won many of these founded in March 1964. Obviously this will be an awards since their inception in 1999. A typical year occasion of some jollity and nostalgia, but it will also was 2012 when Electrosonic won two awards. be a good time to review how Electrosonic has evolved One was a project based award for “Consumer and reacted to the great changes in technology that Installation of the Year” - the European Parliament’s have taken place over the years, and what lessons Visitors’ Centre (which as a project also won the there may be for its future development. prestigious Sinus Award) described on Page 40. However, the second award for “Integrator of Robert Simpson the Year” recognized Electrosonic as a company, independent of particular projects. The award Editor recognized both the variety of the work undertaken by the company, and the way it has developed the business in the face of changing market conditions.

2 Electrosonic Company News 2 Editorial 2 CONTENTS WFOE in China 2 Awards 2 Global Immersion Joins Electrosonic Group 4 Electrosonic Operations Centers 5

Corporate, Commercial & Academic 6 Salford University Egg 6 Scottish Government Media Centre 8 LKAB (Sweden) Visitor Centre 10 Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre 11 Eaton Headquarters 14 The JCB Story 16 Hult International Business School in Dubai 18

Control Rooms 19 Hindhead Tunnels Control Room 19 Santa Barbara Emergency Operations Center 20 Caltrans District 7 21 Bristol Water 22 The Weather Channel 23

Museums 24 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 24 New-York Historical Society Museum 26 Los Angeles Natural History Museum 27 Hollywood Wax Museum 28 Projection Mapping at IAAPA 28 V&A Museum “Ballgowns” 29 Horniman Museum “Body Adorned” 29 National Maritime Museum “Voyagers” 30 Maritime Experiential Museum Singapore 31 Vindolanda Museums 32 National Building Museum 34 Brooklyn Botanic Garden 34 Fort Nelson Artillery Museum 35 Museum of Tolerance (Hitler Letter) 35

Visitor Centers 36 Dover Secret Tunnels 36 Mohonk Preserve 38 Ajax Experience 39 European Parliament 40 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame 42 Kennedy Space Center 43

Entertainment, Giant Screen & PlanETARIum 44 Theater Design in California 44 Electrosonic Design Consulting 45 THEA Awards 46 Peoria Riverfront Museum 47 Fleet Science Center 48 Planetarium Systems 50

3 The INTECH Planetarium

In December 2012, Electrosonic announced its acquisition of Global Immersion, a leader in the design and integration of high performance digital immersive theater attractions. Global Immersion will continue to Global serve the planetarium, institutional theater and giant screen markets. The acquisition positions Electrosonic Immersion as the only company to offer digital immersive solutions across the theme park, museum, giant screen Joins Electrosonic cinema and planetarium markets.

On completing the acquisition, Jim Bowie, President of Electrosonic Group, said, “This is a significant strategic move for both companies, and I am excited by the prospects presented by the acquisition. As a single operation, we will service an even broader range of markets, bringing further innovation and an expanded offering to our customers. Our goal to attract and develop the best industry talent has been one of the drivers of the acquisition. Together we will lead by consolidating our strengths and delivering the best visual systems in the world.”

At the same time, Martin Howe, CEO of Global Immersion, commented, “I am delighted with this transaction with Electrosonic. It allows us to further expand our activities and develop our product and service offering, opening up new doors and bringing with it many synergies. The planetarium and giant screen markets are undergoing significant change as the digital revolution pace quickens. Electrosonic offers a range of benefits that our customers can immediately enjoy. Its international reach and broad technical expertise and capacity mean that we can more cost-effectively service a wider range of customers in more locations, while building upon our shared reputation for quality, performance and support.”

One of Global Immersion’s customers is the INTECH Science Centre, near Winchester. This has the largest digital planetarium in the UK. Its 16.5m (54ft) dome seats 176 people and has a 360° × 165° field of view. It is fitted with a Global Immersion Fidelity Bright™ Planetarium system (see The 4D Theater at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh. Page 50).

4 Electrosonic Company News NEW SERVICES NEED VNOCs VN OCs Hartham Park, Corsham Electrosonic’s principal managed services operation is based in a splendid “stately home”. This is where the main In March 2012, Electrosonic opened a new resource, a VNOC VNOC is sited and where worldwide videoconferencing connections are or Video Network Operations Center. This was to support set up and monitored. In addition to supporting outside clients, it also a growing demand for “managed services”. Such services manages Electrosonic’s own conferencing requirements. are needed by clients with many locations and are designed to ensure that both video and audio conferencing operate efficiently around the world. Such centers can also monitor individual items of equipment.

The first VNOC is located in Corsham, near Bristol, UK. It offers a range of services, primarily concerned with video conferencing, that are complementary to those offered by Electrosonic’s service operation based at Hawley Mill, Dartford. This opened its own “SOC” or Service Operations Center in 2011, which is currently being upgraded.

A second UK-based VNOC was opened in early 2013 to support financial services clients in the Canary Wharf area of London. It runs in tandem with Corsham, but also provides tailored remote assistance to Canary Wharf and City clients.

Electrosonic completed the installation of its third VNOC at the corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, California, also in early 2013. The VNOC provides up-to-the-minute status on clients’ AV and IT infrastructure.

Electrosonic has developed the tools to monitor and manage a wide array of projectors, conferencing equipment, visual displays, servers, computers, switchers and networking products. Alongside the Dartford Service Operations Centre in the UK, the Los Angeles VNOC enhances Electrosonic’s global service coverage with round-the-clock support in the new connected world.

Services provided by Corsham VNOC Multiway Video Conference Hosting ISDN Gateway Services Audio Bridging Remote Monitoring & Management for AV & Video Conferencing Equipment Reporting SMART Bridgit Hosting & Connectivity

[Above] Cloud-Based Interconnectivity to VC Systems (eg. Skype) Monitoring screens at the Corsham VNOC. Offsite Client Managed Services The new VNOC at Electrosonic’s corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. Active Maintenance on Endpoints & Infrastructure The VNOC at Cannon Workshops, Electrosonic’s Canary Wharf base. Software Upgrades The Service Operations Centre at Hawley Design & Project Management Mill, Electrosonic’s headquarters for EMEA.

Electrosonic Company News 5 in Salford

The University of Salford’s unique digital learning, teaching and research 8K space opened in October 2011 at MediaCityUK, the major development in Salford Quays, Manchester. The highlight of its public entrance is a high resolution display system made up from 120 Christie MicroTiles™, able to display images of 9600 × 3840 resolution.

The entrance area of the new building is known as “The Egg” and is described as “a publicly accessible digital interactive showcase for visitors and students.” The idea is that it is a flexible space where resources can be deployed in different ways. The original technical design for the space was prepared by The Centre for Virtual Environments at the University of Salford, and Electrosonic was awarded the contract to engineer and install the complete system.

The MicroTiles are a central feature of The Egg. They were initially installed as a 15×8 array; however since then, they have been re- deployed to achieve project-specific layouts. It was a requirement that the video wall display should be free-standing on the raised floor and not require any structural fixings to the building. This necessitated the construction of a support frame, and here Electrosonic enlisted Long & Co. of Dartford to do the structural engineering.

Here the MicroTiles have been used to set up a number of free standing displays.

6 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC When first installed, the MicroTiles formed one big display.

The display system under factory test.

The Presentation Area The Presentation Area is an enclosed space that can be used for meetings, presentations and research projects. The room layout can be changed, but there is a large front projection screen that is permanently installed, served by a Christie DHD800 projector. This can be sourced from any compatible source device in the control The presentation area. room, or from a presenter’s computer.

The Control Room A separate control room houses all source, control and routing equipment. Six racks accommodate the equipment; three were installed by the University (one for active network equipment, one for structured cabling and one for additional equipment required for research projects).

The other three racks were installed by A touch table. Electrosonic, and were fully wired and tested at Electrosonic’s Hawley Mill factory prior to Image source equipment for the MicroTiles display (and delivery. for other experimental set-ups) includes two 7thSense The Touch Tables Delta Media servers to source the “8K” and similar Within the main space, there are ten interactive images, and five Dell PowerEdge servers to source 2K touch tables for use by students and the general and 4K images, to provide camera interfaces and for public. Here Electrosonic was required to deliver general interactive use. working systems complete with initial content. Control, routing and image processing equipment The interactive software was produced under includes two Christie Spyder X20-1608 processors, sub-contract by Stardotstar, a Manchester- three Extron DVS 304 DVI scalers for analog based content producer. sources, eight Lightware DA2DVI-DL dual link DVI The touch tables use 40-inch panels with multi- distribution amplifiers, and four Extron MDA 4V HD- touch infra-red sensors from PQ Labs and are SDI distribution amplifiers. Twenty-nine Lightware driven by Apple Mac mini computers that are TX/RX110 DVI fiber extenders are used for signal centrally rack mounted in the control room. distribution and a Medialon Showmaster ST is installed Extron USB over CAT5 extenders are used. for housekeeping and “everyday” user interface.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 7 Media 1

Media briefing at the Scottish Government

St. Andrew’s House is the headquarters building of the Scottish Government. It houses the Office of the First Minister of Scotland and several key government departments. It is also the base from which the Scottish Government communicates with the media, and an essential component of this work is the Media Briefing Centre. This has recently been completely re-equipped and refurbished, and now features the latest in communication and presentation systems. Electrosonic’s Edinburgh office was the AV Systems Integrator for the project, working for the Communications Directorate of the Scottish Government.

8 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC The Media Briefing Centre consists of a number of spaces. “Media 1” is the largest; a flexible space Displays that can accommodate a seated audience of 70, The most important display is the with additional space at the back of the room rear projection screen built into for TV camera crews. There is a small stage with the stage setting. This is a DNP movable furniture to allow for both individual and New Wide Angle screen that, in “panel” presentations. There is a control room at conjunction with the Barco RLM W8 the back of the Media 1 space which can be used projector behind it, gives an even, to control all the AV facilities within the Centre. bright image that complements the “Media 2” is another flexible space that can well lit stage. be used as an “overflow” for Media 1 or as Media 2 is equipped with just a conventional meeting room. Both rooms one interactive 70-inch LCD are supported by a “Green Room” where the monitor (SMART Technologies/ presenters can be made up and can relax before NEC SB8070i) which is ideal for their “turn”. meetings, and can also be used to Audio performance is of paramount importance relay proceedings from Media 1. since all events are “on the record”. It is essential Other displays installed as part of that the media can acquire “clean” audio signals, the system include an NEC 46-inch that those in the Briefing Centre can hear LCD monitor in the Green Room, everything with crystal clarity, and that good and preview monitors located on the archive recordings can be made. stage that can only be seen by the Audio routing is by two Polycom C16 Sound presenters. Structure units, with a Soundcraft CPM12 for manual control. The room is equipped with a Polycom HDX microphone array for overall pick-up and with beyerdynamic Opus 650 radio microphones. Audio recording is by a Marantz PMD580 compact flash recorder. Twenty isolated audio feeds are provided for media attendees.

The Centre does not produce finished video programs, but has the facility to record proceedings, to relay images to other spaces, and Media briefing at the to provide visual support to presentations. Four Vaddio WallVIEW 50 cameras are controlled by a ProductionVIEW FX camera controller in the control room. Other video inputs include two Roku BrightSign HD video players, and computer image inputs accessible through floor boxes. An Extron MGP 464 picture-in-picture processor allows the Scottish presentation of multiple images. The projector receives its images as DVI from an Extron DXP 84 DVI matrix; however to provide maximum flexibility in respect of the other displays and Government sources, an Extron 12×12 RGBHV matrix is also installed.

[Above Top] Media 2

[Above Middle] The discreet LED-based stage lighting of participants ensures an excellent TV image. Blacklight was Electrosonic’s lighting sub-contractor.

[Left] An Apple iPad is provided as one of the user interfaces to the AMX NI-4000 control system.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 9 LKAB On the Arctic Circle

LKAB is the world’s technical leader in supplying iron ore pellets to the global steel industry. Its rich magnetite mines are sited in the north of Sweden above the Arctic Circle. It recently opened a new research center in Koskullskulle embodying a welcome center for visitors to the nearby Malmberget mine. Electrosonic was responsible for engineering the AV facilities at the center. The giant video wall is made up from 192 MicroTiles.

LKAB is owned by the Swedish state Inputs to the display include a Blu- and has a turnover of SEK 31 billion ray player, a dual output computer (approximately $4.6 billion). Its mounted in the source system rack, iron ore mines are among the most a digital video tuner and facilities productive in the world, and LKAB for connecting “visiting” sources like has developed highly sophisticated laptop computers. An Extron JMP methods of automated mining and 9600 JPEG2000 player presents the pellet processing that results in the house show “Performance in Iron “greenest” production of iron. Making” that introduces LKAB, its products and its processes. The new research and development center, which includes the “LKAB The room is fitted with an audio main entrance” or visitors’ center, system based around a BSS was completed at the same time as Soundweb DSP controller, Crown a new production level 1250 meters amplifiers and JBL loudspeakers. underground in the Malmberget mine Overall system control is by two called M1250. Both were opened by AMX NI 3100 controllers. The user the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, interface is a touch panel mounted at on June 14, 2012. the lectern, augmented by an Apple iPad™ which allows control from The AV system was designed anywhere in the center. and engineered by Electrosonic AB of Stockholm working to the Next to the main presentation requirements of LKAB’s consultant room, there is a “Board Room” for WSP. The main presentation space management meetings. This is fitted seats 120 people and is dominated with basic AV facilities with scope by a video wall made up from 192 for expansion as the use of the space Christie MicroTiles arranged 16 × 12, becomes better defined. Main display giving an overall image size of 6.5m is by a 2 × 2 array of NEC X551UN [Above] When it is dark outside, the display is ×3.7m (21.4ft × 12ft). 55-inch LCDs with narrow mullion reflected by the back wall of the presentation and LED illumination. room. It is visible from outside the building. The display is fed from a Vista Spyder image processor, allowing complete The Board Room. flexibility in the placement of images Rock drilling rig in the nearby mine which is 1390m (4560ft) deep and has 600km (373 on the display. miles) of roadway within it.

10 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC The Siemens Crystal

The Crystal, based in London’s Royal Victoria Dock, opened in September 2012. It is billed as “A sustainable cities initiative by Siemens which explores how we can create a better future for our cities”. Inside the Crystal is the “World’s largest exhibition dedicated to the future of cities”, a 2,000 sq. meter (21,500 sq. feet) interactive exhibition that guides visitors through the urban infrastructure of the future. It focuses on the possibilities for sustainable mobility, building technologies, power and water supplies, and healthcare.

The Crystal is a £30 million investment by Siemens and is home to its global Centre of Competence - Cities, a team of multi-disciplinary urban experts. The Crystal was designed by Wilkinson Eyre, Architects. Pringle Brandon was the interior/fit out architect, and Event Communications designed and delivered the exhibition. The AV system that supports the exhibition was delivered by Electrosonic, under sub- contract to Event Communications.

Visitors entering the exhibition are directed to a mezzanine level which is entirely devoted to the theme “Forces of Change.” The main feature here is an immersive “black box” theater which uses ten projectors to show a presentation that presents the three challenges, Demographic Change, Urbanization and Climate Change, in short video sequences that run continuously.

The “screen” for the show is a curved surface which covers an end wall and most of the floor. The projected images are blended and warped to fill the screen area without distortion, and the show is accompanied by a powerful multi-channel soundtrack.

[Above] The Cities zone includes the City Icon. It receives images from the central control room.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 11 The Exhibition Team Event Communications led the team that delivered the exhibition. Exhibition [Top to Bottom, Left to Right] fabrication was by The Hub, and the The Safe and Sound zone is mainly all-important content for the AV and housed in this striking structure. Flames, created by Light Emissions interactive exhibits was by a group of ArtBoard low resolution LED displays, content producers that included ISO, All are seen through the lettering. of Us, Clay, Squint/Opera, Spirit Link, The “Create your own sustainable building” exhibit in the Smart B12 and Siemens Software. The “Forces Buildings zone. A cubic structure with of Change” show was produced by Event three 5m wide screens, each with a 40-inch LCD touchscreen. Communications itself. The “City Game” The Creating Cities zone seen from was developed by Siemens. Exhibition the mezzanine. lighting design was by dha design. The “Forces of Change” show uses Electrosonic was the AV system designer Panasonic PT-DZ6710U WUXGA and integrator. DLP™ projectors sourced from 7thSense servers. Typical touch screen display with its associated RFID tag reader. The illuminated color segments surrounding it indicate which zones the visitor has already seen.

12 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC The Siemens Crystal [cont’d]

From the mezzanine, visitors get a that itself is part of the fire prevention interactive exhibit is gesture operated, view of the main exhibition. While in exhibit. Three interactive terminals and includes an impressive Tesla coil principle a free circulation area, there allow visitors to discover the relative spark display. is a mechanism to encourage visitors importance of fuel, oxygen and heat in Electricity also features heavily in to see all the exhibition zones. Visitors starting fires. Their responses modify the Keep Moving zone. While making are given a card which contains an a big curved low resolution LED polite acknowledgement to the role RFID tag. This is needed to initiate display showing flames. of the bicycle in the “Bike, Bus, Train, most of the interactive exhibits on A very interesting exhibit is “What Tram” exhibit, most emphasis is on the the lower level. The tag reader is makes this building (the Crystal) role of electrically powered transport. surrounded by colored indicators sustainable?” This shows in real time The finale of the exhibition is centered showing which zones the visitor has statistics, such as how much rainwater around a panoramic show “Enter already visited. The idea is that a has been recycled, how many tons the City of the Future”, showing “crystal” is collected for each exhibit. of CO have been prevented from 2 how cities could look and operate leaking into the atmosphere, how Visitors can review their progress in the future if the ideas shown in much heating or cooling has been at any time, and at the end of the the Crystal were to be generally achieved by the ground sourced heat exhibition, in the Future Life zone, applied. The presentation is given pump system, and how efficiently the they can use their card to see a on a nine-meter curved screen by various solar devices are performing. complete review of the exhibits they three projectors with blended and have seen and the “crystals” they have The “What makes this building geometrically corrected images. The collected. sustainable?” exhibit uses two touch presence of a building support pillar One of the first zones to be seen is screen displays and an array of LED necessitated the use of short throw lenses to fit the show in the available the Creating Cities zone. It features indicators displaying real time data. space. It is a suitably optimistic an iconic LED display made up from A zone is devoted to carbon dioxide, response to the “Forces of Change” Traxon LED panels, Traxon itself with themes “Meeting the CO 2 show that started the visitors’ tour of is an Osram (Siemens) company. challenge”, “What are we breathing?” the Crystal. Other exhibits in the zone include an and “Valuable waste.” A “living wall” “Understanding Cities” interactive of vegetation, is sufficiently wet that display and a multi-participant “City the two interactive LCD touchscreens Game” requiring four 24-inch LCD within it have to be IP65-rated. touch terminals, surmounted by four The Go Electric zone, not surprisingly, 55-inch repeater displays. is mainly concerned with electricity. The Safe and Sound zone covers It concentrates on the problems of aspects of “protecting the city”, conserving, storing and distributing [Above Clockwise] such as the prevention of fire, rapid power both within cities and over long The Carbon Dioxide zone. response to incidents, crowd control distances. The zone has one of the The “Forces of Change” show. and so on. It is housed in a structure most spectacular exhibits. Its main Tesla coil exhibit in the Go Electric zone.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 13 Story LED Chandelier at Eaton Ohio HQ 5

The lobby with its LED “Chandelier”.

14 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC In early 2013 Eaton Corporation, a global diversified power management company, moved its operational headquarters from downtown Cleveland to Beachwood, Ohio, where its campus features a 580,000 square-foot office building, fitness facility and two miles of walking and running trails. The green headquarters, consisting of two 5-story wings flanking a 10-story tower, is designed to consume 30 percent less energy and 40 percent less water than a conventional building. The main lobby uses LED media façade technology to great effect.

The centerpiece of the Eaton lobby is a five-story chandelier made from Traxon custom Mesh RGB, wrapped into a cylinder 53 feet tall by 12 feet in diameter (17m × 4m). The LED mesh combines a woven stainless steel grid with individually- addressable LEDs to form a canvas for vivid, large-scale media. The chandelier spans five floors of balconies in the atrium and can display specific media on a pre-determined timeline or media for a particular event.

Electrosonic worked with Ralph Appelbaum Associates on the design and technology choice, and was then commissioned by Eaton to deliver the Traxon equipment for the chandelier and a massive 80-foot (24m) curtain wall at the back of the lobby, also a Traxon Mesh RGB with transparent LED nodes at 62.5mm pitch. A service ring is installed surrounding the top of the chandelier which facilitated the original installation and subsequent maintenance.

Electrosonic also engineered and delivered the source and control equipment for the displays and four interactive touch tables based on 65-inch Mitsubishi LCDs with CyberTouch overlays. The overall AV system is under Medialon control. The Close up of the Traxon Mesh RGB initial content was created by Ralph Appelbaum Associates.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 15 The Story of JCB

JCB, the world famous construction and agricultural equipment company, has opened a new exhibition at its world headquarters in Rocester. “The Story of JCB” is a “customer attraction” intended to play an important part in the company’s campaigns to get new business. The £5 million, 2,500m2 (25,000 sq. feet) exhibition is housed in what was the JCB Design Centre until the early 1980s. While the “stars” of the show are the JCB products of all vintages, AV support plays an important part in interpreting the exhibits.

16 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC As you enter the exhibition, a wall displays an array of agricultural implements and machinery that were the products of The Team Bamfords Agricultural Engineers, a company JCB Site Services was the building contractor whose origins went back to 1820. In front of and M&E consultant. The exhibition was a you is a 1940s portrait of the then 21 year design and build contract led by Studio MB, old Joseph Cyril Bamford alongside photos exhibition fit-out was by Sharman Shaw of the family. Exhibitions Ltd, text by Simon Platt, lighting design was by Nich Smith, and Andrews The “Building a Brand” video presentation is Electrical was the electrical contractor. framed by one of the “Dancing Diggers”, a famous aspect of JCB product introductions. AV content was written and co-designed by Studio MB, and produced and co-designed Video support is used throughout the by ISO Design. Much of the original material exhibition. Examples include the “Early came from JCB. Quadrille Media encoded the Years” zone which has a video sequence content. The AV Consultant for the project projected on to a stack of “straw bales” was Douglas Bolton. Electrosonic, was the alongside an exhibit of a single arm hydraulic AV systems integrator. loader. “Building a Brand” tells the story of how JCB was built up as a brand, embodying a combination of elements of the Founder’s personality, the establishment of a well the Utah salt flats. The JCB Fastrac chassis, recognized trade mark, the increasing the basis of the Fastrac range of heavy duty emphasis on the highest possible quality in agricultural tractors, is suspended over a nine product design, and the cultivation of brand screen video wall that shows the completed loyalty. products in action and explains the design details of the chassis itself. The exhibit on engines shows both the engines and features the JCB Dieselmax AV equipment installed include Christie car, which holds the world speed record single-chip DLP™ projectors, NEC 46-inch for a diesel powered car at 350 mph. The LCDs, 7thSense Delta Nano and Delta Duo car exhibit is backed by a panoramic screen servers, BrightSign HD220 players, Cloud The Story of which describes the record breaking run on amplifiers and Tannoy loudspeakers.

CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC 17 Supporting Hult International Business School IN DUBAI

The Hult International Business School is representative of customers who benefit from Electrosonic’s support services. Its new facility in Dubai has been equipped with the latest AV presentation equipment, supported by Electrosonic’s local service operation and by remote monitoring.

One of the breakout rooms.

Presentation controls in the Hult classrooms.

Electrosonic has provided classroom AV systems for Hult World’s largest graduate campuses in London, Dubai and Boston, all to a common design. business school Each system consists of a lectern based teaching and In 1964, Hult International Business School presentation position with the ability to show images from a was established as America’s first corporate rack-mounted PC, a laptop or an Apple iPad™. The rack PC is connected to a SMART Podium 22-inch interactive display that university, then known as the Arthur D. Little allows lecturers to annotate or use white boarding capabilities, School of Management. ADL focused on which is then to be displayed via the twin NEC PA500U delivering a practical business education for projectors projecting directly onto the walls. managers. Tannoy program loudspeakers are installed, and room control is In 2003, one of Europe’s most successful provided by a Crestron 2 Series processor with an iPad™ touch entrepreneurs, Bertil Hult, supported the control interface. school to expand its teaching to not only train In Dubai, there are 20 breakout rooms for the use of students effective managers, but also prepare them to working on projects, assignments and presentations. These thrive on a global stage. He believed students rooms are each equipped with a 46-inch NEC LCD, a wall must experience cultural differences and global mounted Extron control panel providing on/off, volume and business practices firsthand, expanding the source control, and a Spinetix digital signage player to allow school from its single Boston location to a distribution of content to all rooms simultaneously, or for global network of campuses including London, specific functions and events. Dubai, Shanghai, and San Francisco, under the Where possible, all equipment is network connected, and remote name Hult International Business School. support is administered via direct connection to individual Hult’s vision of a global business education devices and via X-Panel for the classroom systems. Electrosonic has attracted students from around the world. supports the Hult campus environment not only in Dubai Today, the school has grown to become the but also in Boston, London (two sites), and parts of the San world’s largest graduate business school. Francisco site.

18 CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL & ACADEMIC Control Room Display At The Hindhead Tunnels

The 1.14-mile (1.8km) long twin tunnels on Operation of the tunnels is supervised from a control room the A3 main road that bypass Hindhead (UK) near the northern end of the tunnels. The Highways Agency wanted this room to operate in a similar fashion to other and the Devil’s Punchbowl beauty spot were traffic control rooms on the major road network, but with opened at the end of July 2011. The tunnels were the added requirement that data relating to non-traffic designed for maximum safety and efficiency, and aspects of the tunnel operation be accessible at the same operation is monitored from a control room at time, as, for example, live CCTV images. the northern end. The control room features an Electrosonic proposed a solution based on the provision overview display and operators’ consoles that of ergonomic operators’ consoles and an overview video were engineered and installed by Electrosonic. wall display that could simultaneously show up to 36 live video images and four computer graphics images from the Operators can monitor images from 104 cameras, SCADA system. To help the client visualize how the control and review data provided by the SCADA system room would appear to operating staff, and to finalize how that supervises the lighting, ventilation, incident the display would operate, Electrosonic produced graphic detection and other support systems. Electrosonic visualizations of how the proposed system would fit in the supplied the system through main contractor available space. Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, with Mott The video wall system consists of six Planar Clarity Macdonald as its design partner; the ultimate Margay II DLP™ 50-inch 16:9 aspect ratio projection cubes arranged in a 3 × 2 array. This format ensures that client was the Highways Agency advised by Atkins the maximum amount of information can be presented in as its consultant. the space with its relatively low ceiling height. The use of “cubes” gives a pixel perfect, near seamless, image surface with a total resolution of 5760 × 2160 pixels, while requiring only 46cm (18 in) depth.

The display is sourced from an Extron VN-Quantum image processor which can display any required combination of images, of any size and positioned wherever required. In practice there are a number of pre-set “scenes” that optimize the display for different situations.

The graphics images reach the processor via Ethernet; [Top and Below] video inputs are derived from a switching matrix that is part The display can be configured to many of the CCTV system. This and the SCADA (Supervisory different formats. Control and Data Acquisition) system were provided under Tunnel portals seen from in front of the control building on a wet day! a separate contract by P. Ducker Systems Ltd of Derby.

CONTROL ROOMS 19 Emergency Operations In 2012, Santa Barbara County’s EOC went from a 1,600 sq. foot Center trailer with a projector and a small TV to a new 11,000 sq. foot building powered in part by green energy. The new EOC facilitates in Santa Barbara the sharing of information from various internal and external sources, whether it is news media, incident maps from geospatial Electrosonic installed an extensive services, live video streams from a county helicopter, or operational audio-visual system in the County reports. Having critical information displayed and shared - via large of Santa Barbara’s new Emergency display screens, flat-panel monitors or video conferencing systems – improves management decisions. Operations Center (EOC), which houses a number of spaces designed Electrosonic’s role encompassed installations in the Incident to help the California county maintain a Management Room, Management Conference Room, Breakout Room, Joint Information Center, Media Distribution System, constant state of readiness. Electrosonic Director’s Office, Staff Break Room, and Lobby. equipped the Office of Emergency Management with presentation, video A mobile tablet device, operating on the building’s secured Wi-Fi network, allows the EOC to control the majority of its systems with conferencing and streaming video an intuitive user interface. capabilities. At the heart of the EOC is the Incident Management Room. It has flexible seating for 40 people and features AV presentation technologies that can meet an array of incident needs. The primary display consists of three wall-mounted front projection screens served by ceiling-mounted Mitsubishi video projectors. All source [Top] and routing/processing equipment is housed in an equipment rack The Management Conference Room. in the Telecoms Room. [Top right] A tablet is used to control the main systems. The Joint Information Center displays the status during an [Below] emergency to enable information officers to distribute updates The Incident Management Room, photographed to the general public. A ceiling-mounted Mitsubishi video/data during installation. projector provides the primary display, and a wall-mounted NEC flat-panel serves as a backdrop for press.

Electrosonic also supplied the Media Distribution System within the Telecoms Room. As the primary head-end for the AV system throughout the facility, it includes sources such as direct broadcast satellite, off-air antenna, cable television, DVD player, OFCI WEBEOC feeds, and video conferencing codecs. The distribution system allows any source to be viewed from any location’s display or PC by using H.264 video streaming encoders/decoders. Video and audio signals are distributed from room to room and delivered to non PC-based display devices via twisted pair cabling.

Electrosonic has been contracted to provide service coverage to the new EOC that includes 4-hour response time, unlimited service calls, full equipment coverage and two preventative maintenance visits annually.

20 CONTROL ROOMS Keeping Traffic Moving in Southern California

Caltrans District 7’s first phase of an AV system upgrade at its Los Angeles facility

Electrosonic has a long relationship The video wall consists of a 12-screen center unit in a 4×3 with Caltrans District 7, which configuration flanked by a pair of six screen 3×2 units. The covers some of the busiest roads center display features 80-inch diagonal screens, and the side displays use 52-inch screens. in the world. In early 2007, Electrosonic delivered an impressive The wear and tear of more than five years of constant operation had taken their toll on the existing rear- display system to the Los Angeles projection engines and had begun to degrade the facility’s Regional Traffic Management Center. ability to monitor traffic, so Electrosonic replaced the video In 2012, Electrosonic was contracted wall engines with Christie one-chip SXGA displays to take to upgrade the system by creating advantage of improved projector quality. Christie RPMSP- a brighter, more reliable video wall D132U displays were selected for the center screen and that takes advantage of the latest RPMX-D132U displays for the side screens. in projection technology, as part The standard format of the wall has single-camera feeds of Caltrans District 7’s first phase on the side screens and 2×2 graphic traffic patterns on of an AV system upgrade at its Los the center screen, with single-camera feeds surrounding them. Caltrans District 7 has more than 400 cameras on Angeles facility. the highways of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Control room staff can review camera feeds 24/7 in the facility and when there is a traffic event – road damage or an accident – they can magnify that feed onto the video wall. The video wall is integral to 24-hour traffic management.

The side projectors were installed in existing cabinets behind the video wall; the center projectors were placed in a huge metal framework previously built by Electrosonic.

[Below] Caltrans District 7 has the most spacious rear-projection The side displays can show both magnified images room that Electrosonic’s project engineers have ever and multiple single images. worked in, so in principle, replacing the engines was quite simple.

The challenge for the installation was working in conjunction with the 24/7 operation of the facility. The display had to be kept in continuous operation and projection engines were swapped out one at a time.

Video wall control is achieved using a VN-Quantum processor previously installed by Electrosonic. The Crestron touchscreen control system that operates the wall and monitors lamp life was re-programmed to accommodate the new projection engines.

Electrosonic also has an extensive service contract with Caltrans District 7, which includes complete parts and labor, unlimited telephone support, proactive preventive maintenance visits and rapid response.

CONTROL ROOMS 21 Creating A Clear Image At Bristol Water

In late 2012, Bristol Water completely upgraded its operational control room. Electrosonic engineered the new display system, which included a video wall with associated processing equipment, a large screen display, workstation monitors and new consoles.

Bristol Water is responsible for the are all on fully adjustable mounts water supply to nearly 1.2 million which the operators can individually The control room before... people in the Bristol area. Its statistics position. The console furniture was include a region of 2,400 sq. km (926 supplied by SBFI under subcontract to sq. miles), over half a million individual Electrosonic. water supplies, 6,600 km (4,100 The overview display consists of six miles) of water mains, 16 treatment 55-inch LCDs with narrow frames works, 164 pumping stations, 14 raw (NEC 551UN) arranged as a 3×2 water reservoirs and 139 covered video wall, and a separate 65- storage reservoirs. inch LCD (NEC V651). The display In common with similar organizations, is supported by a free-standing and after the display system and console Bristol Water’s monitoring needs had structure from Thinking Space, which upgrade. developed piecemeal, and in Bristol eliminates the need for the room wall Water’s case, over a period of nearly to provide structural support. 20 years, resulting in an inefficient workspace for the monitoring staff. A central rack contains support making it a “textbook” case. Sources equipment; principally a Dexon video include a SCADA alarm monitoring Electrosonic worked with Bristol wall image processor, an Adder KVM system, a GIS (Geographical Water’s project staff to rectify switch, a “Freeview” satellite receiver, Information System), an “SMS the situation by providing new a Crestron room controller and an Board”, a security (CCTV) display, a workstation furniture, operators’ Extron audio amplifier. The rack also “Lone worker” display and a TV news displays, and an overview display. The contains space for eight PCs which channel. furniture was designed with practical were installed by Bristol Water staff, ergonomics and operator welfare The new display installation is a and these constitute the main image in mind. It has provision for two good example of how Electrosonic sources for the overview display. operators, each of whom has three can work closely with a customer to monitor screens. The monitors are The image sources available in the ensure a control room display system 23-inch LED edge lit LCD displays control room are typical of the meets actual user requirements in an from NEC (EX231Wp), and they requirement in this kind of installation, economical and practical way.

22 CONTROL ROOMS The Weather Channel Video wall

When The Weather Channel wanted In 2008, Electrosonic supplied a rear-screen projection to upgrade the primary studio set at edge-blended system with Christie projectors to support The its Atlanta headquarters, it turned Weather Channel. The ongoing relationship with The Weather Channel meant that when, in 2012, it was looking for a new to Electrosonic to install a new alternative to the blended system, Electrosonic suggested video wall to replace the display the Christie’s LED-illuminated DLP cubes, which offer extremely company had previously provided. long lamp life, rich color and minimum maintenance.

The new system, consisting of 12 The video wall is a 2 × 6 array of 67-inch cubes, giving an Christie® Entero™ LED-illuminated overall image area of 26.9ft × 6.7ft (8.2m × 2m). A three- rear-projection display cubes, is now output Vista Spyder image processor drives three 1:4 seen as a backdrop for on-air talent distribution amplifiers. Each of the DAs, in turn, drives one and is a vehicle for live video and map of three 2 × 2 sections of the wall. The cubes have internal processing and this is used to create a single image across presentations. each 2 × 2 section.

The Vista Spyder is an ideal processor for this kind of application since it works in real time and can be operated both manually and automatically - it is a “show” processor as opposed to the more computer oriented processors used in typical control rooms.

The Christie Entero™ was the first LED based display cube introduced to the control room market. It is also ideal for some TV studio applications like The Weather Channel because of its almost invisible “mullion” of around one mm and its use of cross-display monitoring, whereby each display monitors and tracks the settings of all the other displays in the system, ensuring an overall uniform appearance.

The installation was made “interesting” by the need to do the work on a fully functioning studio set. Teamwork between The Weather Channel production staff and Electrosonic’s installation crew ensured that installation was completed without disrupting on-air production.

The production suite at The Weather Channel.

CONTROL ROOMS 23 Daily Planet

A massive hemispherical structure, cantilevered onto the new Nature Research Center (NRC) wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, forms the “screen” for an immersive multimedia experience – the SECU Daily Planet. The 40- foot (12.2m) high screen offers a massive visual canvas to visitors on three floors. In its “Ambient” mode, it presents spectacular scenes from nature through a variety of pre-recorded video content and random imagery. In its “Presentation” mode, it serves as a backdrop to scientists making daily live presentations on topics as diverse as excavating dinosaur fossils, tracking baboons in Kenya or exploring beyond the solar system. Electrosonic engineered both the Daily Planet show system and the AV interactive exhibits [Above] throughout the new wing. Two of the many interactive exhibits.

24 MUSEUMS Daily batwin + robin A ll Photos: Planet in Raleigh, NC

Electrosonic’s Design Consulting team the three floors (opposite the main tables” for specimen identification was involved throughout the five- screen). SECU, the State Employees’ via RF tags; visitor-veterinary lab year project from the concept to the Credit Union, was the sponsor of the observations; a salt-water tank with grand opening. Over the course of exhibit. touch-activated information; and a the project, there were many changes weather prediction station with live Four Delta media servers from 7th in the AV world, and the systems international links. Sense Design, specially configured for themselves evolved. Electrosonic the project, feed the projectors, and Among the principal equipment worked with manufacturers and in addition provide outputs for TV/ supplied by Electrosonic for these strategic partners to get a good radio feeds and preview/confidence exhibits were projectiondesign and picture of what could be expected monitors. The high resolution images High End Systems projectors; i-Tech by installation time. Electrosonic are stored uncompressed, and are touchscreens; Medialon Manager also worked closely with the client, “blended” and “warped” where show control; Innovox, Renkus-Heinz exhibit designer Andrew Merriell & required. Overall show control is by and JBL loudspeakers; QSC and Associates, content producer Batwin Medialon. Show programming was a Stewart audio amplifiers; and Peavey + Robin and interactive designer Small team effort from both 7thSense and audio processing. Design Firm. Smart Monkeys. The SECU Daily Planet is presented In addition to meeting the AV needs of using six Christie WU12K-M series the Daily Planet theater, Electrosonic 3-chip DLP digital projectors. In furnished AV solutions for 55 addition, four High End Systems DL3 [Above] innovative experiential media exhibits Image projection in the main exhibition. moving digital light engines paint in the NRC wing, including “magic Two further scenes from the Daily Planet. images on the bands located between

MUSEUMS 25 New-York Historical Society

Even history requires a fresh take sometimes, and 2011 provided just that when the venerable New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York City’s oldest museum, completed a three-year, $70-million makeover.

Included in the scope of the project by a Microsoft Kinect™ camera; if you were a sweeping new 3,400 sq. approach the dog in the picture, it foot space that combines museum turns and barks; if you join the mob, admissions, orientation and a you can help pull the ropes that bring permanent exhibition; a state-of-the- the statue tumbling down. art theater; and the only children’s The “Federal Wall” carries an array history museum and library in the city. of busts, portraits and paintings. In Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design front of it, five portrait format 46- was the exhibit designer. Electrosonic inch Samsung touchscreen LCDs are designed, engineered and installed the mounted in rotating housings. Here AV systems required by the project. you can “steer” the display in the The new entrance hall and exhibition direction of the item of interest and is named the Robert H. and Clarice then use the touch feature to obtain Smith Gallery of American History. It detailed information. contains two outstanding examples Downstairs, the DiMenna Children’s of the imaginative use of interactive History Museum features many exhibits, both with content produced exhibits providing interactivity. by Small Design Firm. Here all the equipment is built into The “Living Painting” is a 5×2 array the exhibits themselves. Exhibit of 55-inch Planar LCDs; the main fabrication at the NYHS was by a image is the well known painting by team including Explus, Superior [Top to Bottom] Johannes Oertel “Pulling Down the Exhibits, Murphy Catton and DCI. The Federal Wall Exhibit uses five rotating displays which the visitor can “aim” at the Statue of King George III”, depicting object of interest. an event that took place in New York The “Living Painting”. in 1776, but actually only painted in The final part of the “New York Story” uses a screen measuring the full 72ft (22m) width of around 1879. Interactivity is provided the theater.

26 MUSEUMS The Theater

The New-York Historical Society’s 300- seat theater was completely refurbished as part of the new development. It is comprehensively equipped with facilities for all kinds of events from concerts to conferences. However, during a “normal” museum day it continuously runs a spectacular 18-minute show, “The New York Story” produced by Donna Lawrence Productions.

The show makes imaginative use of Projection screen (top left) with fossil wall below. dynamic banner screens which start by using only a small part of the stage, but expand to use its full width. In fact, there are three different screen arrangements corresponding to different eras in New York’s history. Necessarily the early history uses archive art and photographs, but recent history includes specially shot Dinosaurs “4K” material.

The engineering of the motorized screens in Los Angeles was by LA Propoint and additional set work was by Pook Diemont & Ohl (PDO) Inc. Remarkably, the projection system uses only three Christie DLP™ 3-chip projectors sourced from Extron Visitors to the 14,000 sq. feet (1300 sq. meter) JPEG2000 players. The massive surround sound system uses 35 loudspeakers. Dinosaur Hall in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County experience the wonder of prehistoric creatures through exhibits, such as the world’s only Tyrannosaurus Rex growth series of baby, juvenile and adult skeletons, and a 43-foot (13m) Fossil Wall exhibiting 100 diverse dinosaur specimens.

Exhibit design was by Evidence Design. Electrosonic was responsible for the design, engineering, fabrication, installation and programming of the Hall’s audio, video and interactive displays that support the main exhibits under sub- contract to Lexington Design & Fabrication, the exhibition fabricator. Media content was by Unified Field.

When visitors walk past the Triceratops and the 68-foot (20.7m) Mamenchisaurus, they encounter a 15-foot (4.6m) wide front projection screen suspended about nine feet (2.7m) above the floor. A 3-chip DLP™ projector, and a pair of speakers located behind the screen, present a looped video describing the hunt for the prehistoric creatures called “Investigating Dinosaurs”.

The mezzanine level features a number of exhibits with AV components. One display about the structure of dinosaur heads has an interactive touchscreen in its base that enables visitors to simulate dinosaur calls thanks to a compact, flat full-range speaker. A multi-touch screen, which can handle 32 simultaneous touches, is positioned alongside an exhibit of excavation tools. Its table-style configuration allows children of all ages to play a game that simulates a dinosaur excavation.

MUSEUMS 27 Hollywood Wax Museum

When the Hollywood Wax Museum refurbished its lobby to attract the attention of passers-by, Electrosonic was called upon to design and install a number of HD video displays to capture the interest of strollers on Hollywood Boulevard.

The displays show a montage of newly- made clips that pay homage to all genres of Hollywood movies, ranging from classic westerns and Sci-Fi spectaculars to musical extravaganzas, war films and mysteries.

Electrosonic installed two 3×3 video walls using 46-inch monitors for the back wall of the lobby, two 2×1 arrays of 46-inch monitors for the cashier’s desk and a 2×1 and 3×1 array of 55-inch monitors, both in portrait mode, in the lobby. All monitors are from Samsung and video playback is from Alcorn McBride Video Binloop. Elliott Metal Fabrication consulted on the custom monitor mounts which required seismic certification. Projection Mapping at IAAPA

A popular event for Electrosonic’s theme park, museum and visitor center customers is the annual Electrosonic Party at the IAAPA convention. Sometimes it is possible to hold the party at an attraction where Electrosonic has been an important supplier, but whatever the venue, the company tries to show something of interest.

The 2011 party was held at the Crowne Plaza Universal Hotel in Orlando, FL. The opportunity was taken to demonstrate projection mapping on a large scale, using the hotel itself as a projection surface. Special, and amusing, content was developed by Mousetrappe for the occasion, JMR provided the laser scanning service, and Christie (who has sponsored a number of Electrosonic’s parties) provided the projectors. The system was engineered by Electrosonic with the help of 7thSense Design who provided the server.

28 MUSEUMS at the Ballgowns

V&Projection technologyA

The projection system was based on four pairs of projectiondesign F32 WUXGA high brightness projectors, all with wide angle EN13 lenses. Two projectors were used for each image in order to achieve the required image size and aspect ratio. The projectors were housed in well ventilated housings built by MDM Props, and each received its DVI signal over “CAT5” cable.

The show was run from two 3XS workstations, each one serving four projectors, running Dataton Watchout® software. This program provided the necessary edge blending and “Ballgowns: British Glamour since 1950”, an exhibition at the warping of the images to map them to the alcove Victoria and Albert Museum in London, ran from May 2012 shape. until January 2013 and featured more than sixty designs for social events such as private parties, royal balls, state occasions The whole system ran automatically from a and opening nights. Mounted in the newly renovated Fashion Medialon Showmaster embedded controller. Galleries, the exhibition, designed by Emily Pugh, was supported by giant projected images based on photography by David Hughes. While the “Ballgowns” exhibition only ran until Production of the video sequences was by Rollo Hollins of early 2013, the projection system is designed FletcherWilson. The projection system was engineered and for a long life and is to be used to support other installed by Electrosonic. exhibitions occupying the same gallery space. Body Adorned

The Horniman (South East London) Museum’s project to coincide with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was AV Production “The Body Adorned: Dressing London”, an exhibition that ran “The Body Adorned” presented multiple until January 2013 that “looks across time and cultures at the views reflecting the perspectives of the multiple relationships between dress, the body and cosmopolitan curators and a team of young collaborators. London”. It featured many objects from the Museum’s collection, The exhibition was designed by Neil together with specially commissioned photographic and video Richardson of Objectives, and used AV content. Electrosonic engineered the required AV installation, techniques to present new material. making maximum use of the museum’s existing equipment pool. A centerpiece was a specially commissioned video work by The Light Surgeons. This combined a large projected image, which was shot as if looking out through a large shop window on to a busy street, with four portrait format LCDs and associated loudspeakers. The LCDs featured individual characters who interacted with each other and the main display.

All other AV production for the interactive exhibits and screens was by Spiral Productions. Introductory exhibit combining projected images with artifacts from the Museum’s collection.

MUSEUMS 29 “What are your memories of the sea?”

Voyagers in Greenwich Photo: Real Studios

In July 2011, the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich UK) opened its £36.5m Sammy The Wave Ofer Wing, housing ‘Voyagers’, an exhibition The Wave is a 25m (82ft) wave-like structure gallery dedicated to helping visitors gain a richer featuring video projections and a dramatic understanding of Britain’s maritime heritage. sound-scape. Seven Panasonic projectors display Electrosonic was selected by the museum to supply, intensely colored patterns of images and words install, commission and provide warranty for the AV which appear to wash over the wave’s multi- faceted surface, simulating the rise and fall of hardware. The gallery was designed by Real Studios, the ocean. with AV creative direction by The Light Surgeons. At one moment the Wave is dominated by two Bespoke software was supplied by Flightphase and or three stand-out images from the museum’s The Hub was the fit-out contractor. archive collections; in the next, one of a series of film and image montages pulses from right The first thing visitors see upon entering Voyagers is the to left, each a shifting mosaic of content that “Wave” (see box) which dominates the gallery. Behind illustrates a key theme from the Museum’s holdings. Sometimes a bold flash of color will the Wave is a 30m (98ft) long object wall, housing over light the space – an impression created by many 200 artifacts; the Museum has taken the rather unusual similar objects being shown at the same time. approach of ordering them by emotion - anticipation, love, These moments are interspersed by waves of text sadness, aggression, pride and joy. which wash over the surface, creating a constant The final element of Voyagers is a series of video portraits. sense of movement. Sounds of the sea, whistling These take the form of recorded first person accounts from wind, crashing waves and flapping sails, mirror ordinary and extraordinary people from all over the world the movement of the Wave, giving visitors the - coastguards, émigrés, naval officers, school children - impression they are really at sea. each with their own story. A series of columns are placed A Puffersphere spherical display, powered by a towards the exit of the gallery through which the visitors Christie projector, appears to float on top of the pass to leave. Eight small video monitors inset in these Wave. It displays words and images, taking visitors columns show short films of people answering questions on a visual journey into maritime history. The such as: “What does the sea mean to you?”, “What is your Wave and Puffersphere are animated in real time maritime story?”, “What are your memories of the sea?”. using openFrameworks software.

30 MUSEUMS Shipwreck in Singapore

Visitors to the Maritime Experiential Museum at 1-chip DLP projector and a pair of Renkus-Heinz ICONYX Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore, get a close line arrays and subwoofers for this pre-show. look at a shipwreck in the Typhoon Theatre, Visitors proceed to the Typhoon Theatre for the main where Electrosonic provided audio-visual show. The 15.5-meter diameter circular space seats about design, engineering, integration and installation 150 visitors in bench seating bolted to a floor whose of the audio, video and control equipment to hydraulic lift platform is activated when the ship sinks. A help simulate an amazing historical journey. curved-wall surface is the “screen” for a Sony SRX-T420 4K SXRD projector customized by Electrosonic with a fish- The company was hired by Sunray Woodcraft eye lens to fill a 180º space about six meters high. A DVS Construction and worked under the general Cine4K server is the program source and a 3D Perception guidance of museum designers Ralph Appelbaum system handles image processing and warping. Four High Associates. Show content was by Super 78. End Systems DL3 moving-head projectors cover the back Singapore-based Electronics & Engineering was wall of the theatre with effects projections, creating a 360° Electrosonic’s installation sub-contractor. experience.

The museum was built to house the Jewel of Muscat, a reproduction Arab dhow which sailed on the Belitung route from Oman to Indonesia 1100 years ago, and some 60,000 The Audio System artifacts salvaged from a shipwreck found near Java. The A 13-channel audio system plays a key role in centerpiece of the museum is the Typhoon Theatre where setting the scene and giving visitors the sensation visitors ‘board’ the Arabia-bound ship, experience the of the storm. Five Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers are storm it encountered, and sink in the sea as the theatre mounted on top of the screen pointing down, and floor descends. When the lights come back on, visitors find another five are on the front platform angled up themselves in the depths, and the shipwreck surrounded by so sound bounces off the screen. Four more are marine life. placed on overhead catwalks to give left and right The experience begins in the harbormaster’s hut on the surround. A Peavey MediaMatrix DSP provides pier in China’s Guangzhou harbor. Shutters part to reveal correction. a rear projection screen displaying the ship’s crew at work: Configuring the audio was a challenge due to the an emissary carrying a priceless chalice wedding present shape of the space and the impossibility of placing which will be part of the cargo, and an astrologer making speakers behind the screen. Electrosonic teamed dire forecasts about the ship’s fate. Electrosonic provided a with acoustic consultants Sowden and Associates Doremi Labs Nugget HD video player, a Christie DHD800 to solve the problems, resulting in the acoustic treatment of the concrete space, and strategic location of the speakers to deliver the best possible surround sound.

MUSEUMS 31 Vindolanda Trust Tells the Story of the Roman Era

The Vindolanda Trust (an entirely independent charity) runs both the Roman Vindolanda Fort & Museum and the Roman Army Museum, two sites a few miles apart along Hadrian’s Wall (considered “the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain”, and started in 122AD). Both museums have recently been expanded and re-fitted in a major project partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. AV techniques are used both to help interpret artifacts and to bring Roman times to life.

At the Roman Army Museum, a soldier looks down on a projected map that shows how the Roman Empire expanded and finally contracted. Behind him a short program explains the structure of the Roman Army.

[Above] The “Recruiting” display showing the “tent”, the character display and the carefully sited bench seating.

32 MUSEUMS Tells the Story of the Roman Era

Vindolanda justly claims to be “the scale exhibits. In the first gallery, [Above, Left to Right] most exciting archaeological site on visitors encounter a rather impressive The “Professional Soldiers” exhibit. Hadrian’s Wall”, and was an important Roman horseman, and nearby a Showing how the display seen at a distance fort long before the construction of Roman soldier. draws visitors through the exhibition. the wall. Today visitors can explore The “Diary from the Frontier” exhibit. The soldier surveys a “map table” at the site and see “live archaeology”. his feet that graphically shows how The country house of Chesterholm the Roman Empire expanded, and then is the museum for the archaeological contracted over a period of hundreds site and displays many of the artifacts of years. The map is projected by a The TEAM found in the excavations, with an compact ceiling mounted projector. The re-development project was emphasis on items relating to daily life Behind the soldier, a large mural an initiative of the Vindolanda in Roman times. illustrates the “Professional Army”; Trust and was managed by the An example of the use of AV to help part of the mural is a projection Trust’s Director, Patricia Birley. interpret the archaeological collection screen where, alternating with the The architect for the building is an exhibit on Roman coins entitled “Recruiting” film described next, a work was Andrew Hamilton, and “Professional Soldiers”. This explains program on the “Structure of the building construction was by that the soldiers were professional Roman Army” is presented. Border Construction. Studio MB and were paid a regular salary in In the same gallery, a most effective of Edinburgh was the exhibition coins. Above the display of coins is exhibit brings to life the harsh reality designer and Sharman Shaw a 46-inch LCD screen that shows of being in the Roman Army. A “field was the exhibit fabricator. AV enlarged images of individual coins tent” becomes the place where a media content was designed, and captions that name the emperor “Recruiting Centurion” sizes you up directed, written and produced by depicted on the coin. to see if you are fit for service. The Studio MB with software teams Further LCDs (all from NEC and effective presentation is achieved by Iso Design and Freakworks. sourced from BrightSign players) carefully positioned bench seating Electrosonic was the AV Systems support an exhibit on the excavation that allows a view into the “tent” Integrator for the exhibition process that includes a film where where the character seems “real” displays, under contract to participants explain what they are within the set – an effect achieved Studio MB. doing, and a major exhibit on the with a large Pepper’s ghost display. discovery of the Vindolanda Writing The next gallery is devoted both to Tablets, considered one of the most Hadrian’s Wall and its history, and important Roman finds in Britain to Hadrian himself. The “Hadrian” because they give incredible insight exhibition examines several aspects into how people lived. of the man, and the “Cultured Man” The Roman Army Museum, seven display includes a supporting video miles from Roman Vindolanda, is big sequence. enough to accommodate some large

MUSEUMS 33 National Photos: Local Projects Building Museum The National Building Museum, housed in its own landmark structure, the former US Pension Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C., is hosting a major new exhibition called “House & Home”. Running through spring 2017, “House & Home”, designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, presents an array of photos, objects, models and films, that show visitors the remarkable changes in domestic life over the centuries and what it means to be at home in America. Electrosonic designed, fabricated, programmed Images and installed AV equipment for selected galleries “Experience the Dwelling” is a mini-theater with bench seating and trained the museum staff to operate and showing “Welcome Home”, a film projected onto two 16×9 foot troubleshoot the installation. screens by two Christie DHD670-E single chip DLP™ projectors. Video playback is from an Extron JMP 9600 2K player which is connected to the projectors by UTP interfaces. (Above)

The Living at Home galleries display hundreds of household goods used over the past several centuries. Six exhibit groups each feature a portrait format 32-inch LCD. The video interface, video player and an Ethernet controlled power bar are mounted under the floor at the base of the kiosk. (Left)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Interactivity

Visitors are welcomed by a BBG map presented on three narrow mullion 55-inch LCDs (Samsung UD55A). Nearby a 46-inch portrait format LCD presents information about “Today’s Events”. Both are supported by interactive PCs that provide links to further information. (Left) With the opening of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) new visitor center and gateway, visitors can now orient themselves to the garden, learn A traditional form of interactivity is about its current blooms and plantings, and browse the event schedule provided by “peek-a-boo” exhibits via interactive exhibits installed by Electrosonic for exhibit fabricator (above). Here photo panels can be Hadley Exhibits. lifted to reveal further information, and some of them are equipped with Founded in 1910, BBG is an independent, non-profit institution six-inch LCDs fed by Technovision committed to education, science and horticultural display. Situated on 52 solid state MPEG video players. The acres in the heart of Brooklyn, BBG is home to more than 12,000 types programs are triggered by magnetic of plants and hosts more than 725,000 visitors annually. switches in the hinge mechanism.

34 MUSEUMS Fort Nelson, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour, is home to the Royal Armouries collection of artillery and Big Guns historic cannon. In 2011, it underwent a £3.5 million development and Hayley Sharpe was appointed designer at Fort Nelson for the museum. Electrosonic installed the AV systems that support the exhibits.

One exhibit based on late Victorian times shows a black and white The “Voice of the Guns” gallery. Iraq Super Gun exhibit behind AA gun. photograph of a recruiting sergeant in a gilt frame. At intervals he comes to life, in full color giving a severe pep talk urging you to join the army and to “step forward and take the Queen’s shilling”.

Two interactive exhibits are in the form of “map tables”. They are based on projected images, and offer a choice of topics related to the two main subjects “How was the fort built?” and “Why was the fort built?”

The new gallery, “The Voice of the Guns”, showcases the collection’s most famous exhibits. These include the Great Turkish Bombard from 1464 and two anti-aircraft guns used to defend the South Coast. Several exhibits include LCD screens that provide supporting video material.

The most infamous exhibit is devoted to the Iraqi Super Gun. This was originally intended to be 156m long (26 sections each of 6m) with a 1m bore. The barrel sections were exported to Iraq as “chemical pressure vessels”, and most were destroyed after the first Iraq war. However the last few were intercepted by HM Customs, and two of them are on display at Fort Nelson.

One of the most important documents of the Second World War, an early letter written by Adolf Hitler, was recently acquired by the Museum of Tolerance in Hitler Los Angeles.

Written in September 1919, it is the only document signed by Letter Hitler linking him to the elimination of the Jewish people. In it Hitler calls for “an anti-Semitism based on reason…[whose]… at the Museum final aim, however, must be the uncompromising removal of the of Tolerance Jews altogether”. It was found by an American GI in Nuremberg in 1945. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called the letter “the most significant ever acquired” by the Center.

In an exhibit designed by the Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design, the letter is housed in a glass display case alongside a 65-inch Mitsubishi LED CyberTouch touchscreen. Visitors can view content created by Cortina Productions allowing them to virtually interact with the letter, reading it in the original German or translated into English. A graphic image of a magnifying glass enlarges portions of the letter for easier inspection. Visitors can also access milestones in the history of the Third Reich, news articles, maps and still photos, plus video clips about the acquisition of the letter in 2011.

Two visitors at a time can access the exhibit, but there is also a docent mode for presentations to groups. Electrosonic designed and installed the interactive system.

MUSEUMS 35 a

Dover Castle’s SECRET

The tunnels were begun in 1797 and their TUNNELS official use continued until 1984.

English Heritage has completed a major The main attraction is run as a “pulsed” show, investment at Dover Castle within the network with parties of up to 30 people accumulating of Secret Wartime Tunnels that lie in the in the “War Begins” waiting area. Every nine minutes, a Sergeant Majorly voice enjoins the chalk cliffs under the castle itself. Opened group to move on to the “War Begins Cinema”. to visitors on 10 June 2011, “Operation This space is themed as an underground Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk” combines briefing room complete with mock 16mm original news-reels and recordings, two years projector and blackboard. Of course the film of painstaking research, testimonies from is actually shown electronically, and describes veterans of both the beaches and the tunnels, the events leading to war. The “blackboard” and state-of-the-art special effects to deliver turns out to be an LCD panel covered in black a vivid account of what Sir Winston Churchill gauze which is used to give French and German subtitles to the presentation. called a “miracle of deliverance”. Visitors leave the cinema and move into the “Battle of France” presentation space. This is themed as an underground war room. Visitors can sit on perimeter seating or stand to watch the show. It describes the battles in France

36 VisITOR CENTERS a

that led up to the need for evacuation. Two walls of the space show archive footage from the battle, and The Team animated graphics are projected onto a low table in the center of the room. These reinforce the commentary The prime mover behind the Secret Tunnels by illustrating, for example, the balance of forces and project was, obviously, English Heritage. The the troop movements. Designer and Producer of the new experience was Kvorning Design & Communication of The highlight of the visit is in “Rescue from Dunkirk Denmark. Kier was the main contractor for all (Casemate Z)” where the events of May 26 to June 4, the associated building works. 1940 are presented in dramatic fashion. The casemate is a tunnel space 60 meters long, and the story of The Kvorning team included: COWI and the the evacuation is narrated by Kenneth Cranham, Light Bureau as lighting designers, Stouenborg accompanied by the voices of veterans of the time. as audio designer and producer, Kvorning itself Giant images run the length of the space, augmented and Homerun as media producers, and MDM as by spectacular lighting effects. The images require a provider of special effects and setwork. total of 23 projectors, and are computer controlled Electrosonic had a pivotal role throughout to ensure synchronization, and to warp and blend the the project. At the design stage, it worked separate projected images into one long image. with Kvorning to validate the design ideas, Some of the projected sequences are particularly and to work up AV and control design in effective. Against a huge background of ships and sufficient detail to allow reliable budgeting. small boats, fighter planes seem to zoom down the CAD techniques were used to model the entire length of the tunnel. In another sequence projection optics. Subsequently, Electrosonic silhouette photography gives an eerie feeling that the was awarded the AV system and show control people who were planning the evacuation from within integration contract. the tunnels are still present.

The silhouette images in the main show are The “War Begins” Cinema. The “Battle of France” Show. particularly effective.

VISITOR CENTERS 37 Back to

at Mohonk Preserve

Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains, New York state’s largest nonprofit nature preserve, marked its 50th anniversary with a renovation of its green design, award-winning Visitor Center tucked cozily into the woods. Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership was responsible for the architecture, interiors, graphic design and exhibit design of the Visitor Center project. Electrosonic engineered the AV displays which were designed to ensure that visitors made the best use of their time.

With over 8,000 acres of mountain ridges, fields, streams, ponds and other unique and beautiful places, Mohonk Preserve is dedicated to protecting the Shawangunk Mountains by inspiring people to care for, enjoy and explore the natural world. Visitors can bike, hike, climb, ride horses, run, ski and snowshoe in the Preserve.

The Visitor Center is a stone and wood structure set on over 40 acres, including the J & S Grafton Sensory Trail, LaVerne Thompson Nature Trail and Children’s Forest. The 10-minute introduction show, produced by Richard Its main floor is an open room with large windows that Lewis Media Group, is shown on a 26ft (8m) wide overlook the Preserve and provide a backdrop for a three- panoramic screen with a pronounced curve. The show dimensional topographical map that gives bird’s-eye is projected by four projectiondesign F12 projectors views of trails and major points of interest. Electrosonic running from Dataton WATCHOUT, which also does the added four 32-inch ELO interactive touchscreens to the required blending and warping. map. Visitors can access details and photos about the trails and attractions via the touchscreens. Content was The show can be started by visitors; between shows, the created by the Preserve in collaboration with Richard screen shows an attractor loop of beautiful photographs. Lewis Media Group.

At the entry is the “Nature Notebook,” made up of two 46-inch Samsung LCD screens hung in portrait mode. One side is a Welcome Information Station, which features weather updates and daily information on trail conditions and upcoming events. The other offers visitors [Above] a chance to leave observations and questions with a Visitor Orientation Theater. keyboard and mouse, which is displayed like a Twitter [Above Left to Right] feed. The Preserve posts seasonal nature observations as The Nature Notebook displays. prompts. The touchscreens installed alongside the topographical display.

38 VisITOR CENTERS ExAperienceJAX

The Ajax Experience opened in September Visitors arrive at the Ajax Experience at street level and enter 2011 right in the middle of Amsterdam. While the exhibition by a short flight of steps within the “Hall of History”, a graphic display augmented by a 2×2 video wall especially aimed at Ajax fans, it is for all who based on four 46-inch LCD panels. An appropriate soundtrack love, or would like to learn more about football. plays throughout the area to set the mood. Its location on the Rembrandtplein makes it One of the main themes of the exhibition is “From Children to easily accessible to the thousands of tourists Champions”, a unique feature of Ajax whereby intense training who visit Amsterdam. The Ajax Experience helps to transform simply talented players to top footballers visitors’ centre was designed and produced by and international heroes. So the journey through the Ajax gsmprjct° of Montreal. Exhibition fit-out was Experience starts with the youth training program and ends by Fiction Factory. Electrosonic was the audio- with the world of the football elite. visual systems integrator. The first exhibit that visitors see is a film “Well of Talent” that shows how young players become Ajax’s Juniors.

Visitors then enter a large space which combines several T.I.P.S elements: “museum” exhibits, linear films and interactive exhibits where visitors can try their football skills. The For many visitors, the highlight is the “museum” element consists of memorabilia, trophies and opportunity to participate in interactive significant club artifacts. exhibits that reveal the attributes of great football players. The emphasis is The climax of the Experience is a visit to the locker room, on Technique, Insight, Personality and where the manager gives a pep talk, followed by a walk into Speed, otherwise known as “T.I.P.S”. the stadium through the players’ tunnel. Here a multi-screen show evokes all the excitement of the match. The TIPS Personality exhibit is a graphics panel and the Insight exhibit is a multi-touch table. However, both TIPS Speed and TIPS Technique require the visitor to do some real kicking. They do this inside glass “boxes” which ensure the ball does not escape, but allow spectators to see what is going on.

These two exhibits involve projection on the floor and camera tracking of the ball. Content and software for these exhibits were by Kiss the Frog. (All other linear and interactive content was produced by

gsmprjct°.) Two of the three glass “boxes” housing the TIPS Technique interactive exhibits. The footballs can be clearly seen. Graphic panels explain to onlookers what is going on.

VISITOR CENTERS 39 European Parliament Visitors’ Centre

The Parlamentarium, the new visitors’ centre of The next part shows aspects of today’s EU Parliament. the European Parliament, opened in Brussels in A “calendar” exhibit uses a sliding LCD to show the October 2011. It is the first ever exhibition to be parliament’s annual schedule week by week, and an fully accessible in 23 languages. Electrosonic was “MEP wall” shows every Member of the European Parliament. Associated with it is an LCD that gives a contracted directly to the European Parliament “video portrait” of an individual MEP. Three “Polling to engineer and install the main exhibition Booths” allow visitors to “vote” on current issues. They audio-visual hardware to meet the performance can see how their vote compares with both those of requirements of the exhibition’s designer, Atelier other visitors and of parliament itself. An overhead LED Brückner of Stuttgart. The overall system includes display shows the poll results. two 360° theaters, nearly 100 LCD panels of “A Parliament for Europe” is the “big show”. A 360° various sizes, a novel “voxel” display using 13,000 presentation gives a feel for the semi-circular layout of LED globes, 140 computers, multi-channel audio, the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. Visitors can listen to 40km of signal cables and 18 equipment racks. debates, see votes being taken and be guided through the legislative process. The show has two presenters Visitors enter the Parlamentarium through a “tunnel” to explain what is going on; they speak in English, but featuring a “soundscape” of all 23 languages of the EU. the 22 other languages can be heard as simultaneous On leaving the tunnel, visitors are issued a “Multi-media translations on the media guides. The 12-minute show Guide”, essential to enjoying the exhibition. The guides uses 14 projectors, and has a total screen area of 150 and supporting infrastructure were supplied by NOUS of sq. meters (1600 sq. feet). It runs automatically with Austria and include RFID technology to provide interactivity an interval between shows, during which visitors can with exhibits. Visitors choose the language they want at access information about the MEPs using one of the 36 issue, and from then on, the guide operates in the visitor’s 19-inch touchscreens set into the desks. language (in text and audio). The RFID feature ensures that The “Europe in Daily Life” exhibit is a more relaxed exhibits operate in the visitor’s language. affair than “Parliament”. The screen arrangement is The first part of the exhibition explains the post-World identical, but the layout is different. In the centre of War II conditions that led to the beginning of the European the space are 22 easy chairs, each with an associated Union, using contemporary photographs augmented by touchscreen. Here, 54 Europeans (two from each of audio and by information on the media guides. There follow the 27 countries) tell how the EU and its policies have exhibits that show how the EU was enlarged, illustrated had an impact on their lives, businesses and prospects. both by graphic displays, and 40-inch LCD touch screens in Films shown on the touchscreens are chosen by the table format that describe the treaties that led to the EU as visitors; the film on the 360° screen shows scenes it is today. relevant to all participants.

40 VisITOR CENTERS Novel manifestations of AV are experienced in the “United in Diversity” section. The “Ground of Stories” exhibit gives visitors a virtual trip through Europe. On the floor is a 210 sq. meter (2260 sq. feet) map of Europe. Within it are 90 RFID tags that identify places of interest. Visitors use one of 12 mobile displays that can be wheeled over the map to learn more. A monitor in the top of the device shows what is on the floor, using a webcam built in to its base. An RFID reader detects the tags, and the monitor displays information on the place detected.

Surrounding the exhibit is a 40m × 0.32m (131ft×1ft) “ticker tape” display, consisting of 2,540 × 20 (50,800) RGB pixels and showing a sequence of statistics and poll results. The most unusual exhibit is the overhead “voxel” (Volumetric Pixel) display. Thirteen thousand spherical LED based elements are arranged in a 3D array. The display is a mirror image map of the EU, matching the map on the floor The Technology on a smaller scale. It interprets the data presented on the Source equipment is mounted in racks sited in a ticker in color and graphical form. dedicated control room. The need for continuous updating dictates that there is a dual media server system with RAID storage, networked to all THE TEAM machines, which can be accessed remotely by the Media Producers. The €21 million Parlamentarium project was realized by a large team. Besides the European Parliament The media servers the video source and interactive itself as client, the main team was: computers are all from DVS (UK). The 360° shows use Dataton Watchout to provide the synchronized LORD Cultural Resources Planning & playout and geometrical correction. Management Ltd developed the first concept. All 40 projectors are from Panasonic; the majority Atelier Brückner of Stuttgart was the designer of are PT-D6000 ELK (XGA single chip DLP, 6500 the exhibition. The design team included: lumen). Nearly 100 LCDs, many with touchscreen • Integral Ruedi Baur as graphic designer. capability, are installed. 40 and 46-inch displays are • LDE Belzner Holmes as lighting designer. from NEC; smaller displays are OEM open frame • jangled nerves as media designer. displays built into the exhibits. The mobile display • Medienprojekt p2 in co-operation with “trolley” units were built by Bruns BV, and then fitted Media-Bureau as AV consultants. out by Electrosonic. The complete “voxel” display was developed by Atlantic Star of Latvia under sub- Wycor of Belgium was the main building contractor contract to Electrosonic. and Bruns BV of Holland was the exhibition fit-out contractor. Markenfilm Crossing GmbH of Hamburg was the media producer for the exhibition. NOUS Wissensmanagement GmbH of Vienna was responsible for the media guide system and its associated RFID technology. Media Farm of Norway was responsible for the concept, planning and realisation of the Role-play game, a separate part of the exhibition. Electrosonic was AV Systems Integrator for the main exhibition.

VISITOR CENTERS 41 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Dramatic overhead “floating” screens. When Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame opened at Canada Cambridge Seven Associates (C7A) designed the new building, which houses Olympic Park in Calgary in 2011, sports fans flocked interactives and multimedia presentations to the new 40,000 sq. foot space that celebrates the designed by Cortina Productions and country’s impressive and inspiring sports history. The Bruce’s Garage. Electrosonic was the attraction offers 11 exhibit galleries representing 58 main AV systems contractor working for sports, and includes more than 50 interactive visitor The Taylor Group, which provided overall experiences designed to captivate fans of all ages. exhibit project management and fabrication. Electrosonic’s Design Consulting team worked with C7A and the media producers Engaging interactive exhibits in the Hall of Fame area. to design the AV aspects of the exhibits. The portraits above are displayed on Sharp LCDs. Electrosonic hired Calgary AV contractor ASCCI to source the equipment in Canada, local resources for rack fabrication, and on-site installation. EOS Lightmedia of Vancouver was the lighting designer.

One of the most challenging galleries was The Ring of Canada Sports. C7A wanted the images floating overhead, but the ceiling height restricted the projector positions available. In the end, the screen surface evolved to a ring shape and used Sharp XG- P610X projectors with wide-angle lenses mounted above custom mirror assemblies to rear project onto the scrim material.

A visitor favorite is the Formula 1 car in the Ride Motion Gallery, which is backed by a curved screen displaying racing footage. Electrosonic provided a Sharp XG-P560WN running through an FPS IA-200-EX to correct for the screen’s curve. Shadow Boxing in the Contact Gallery gives visitors a chance to demonstrate their pugilistic skills; participants cast their shadow on a screen where a Sharp XG-P610X projector displays the moves of their opponent.

Medialon MIP HD players and PCs are the main image sources. Cisco DMP-4400G- 52-K9 Digital Media Players are used in digital signage and several exhibits, and some 3D Blu-ray players are used in action sports exhibits. Photos this page: The Taylor G roup

42 VisITOR CENTERS Improved Audio

at Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida The project was the first from Electrosonic to implement recently reconfigured its entrance. Delaware North QSC’s Q-Sys Digital Signal Processing (DSP) unit, a Companies Parks and Resorts which manages the daily powerful yet simple solution for audio processing, control operations of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and management. The Q-Sys CORE 3000 128x128 commissioned Electrosonic to provide the audio-visual provides multi-channel audio playback park-wide. With design, infrastructure, equipment and programming for the Q-Sys, there is no need for separate devices to play back background music, audio messaging and video signage for the audio, eliminating the need for multiple CD players or ticketing and guest relations services. Electrosonic worked solid-state audio playback machines. This minimizes the closely with Whiting - Turner Construction who built the equipment footprint and eliminated an equipment room. new entry area. Electrosonic’s Design Consulting team was The new configuration provides 128 channels of audio, and involved from the start of the project, serving as the AV soundtracks are tailored to individual zones in the park by consultant to architects PGAV. creating audio players in the software.

Q-Sys communicates over a network with Q-LAN so any device can share audio, functions or information. As the park expands and upgrades, more audio can be added just by providing a network connection.

Electrosonic installed many QSC loudspeakers, and associated amplifiers and sub-woofers, in the retail building, the entry/exit turnstile area, the self ticketing area, the welcome center and the fountain area.

Digital signage is prominent in several areas. For example, the guest services area features 32-inch high brightness, outdoor-rated LCD displays for graphics and information about tour packages and special events. In all cases displays are fed by a video player located in the equipment room via fiber with HDMI/DVI video and serial control.

VISITOR CENTERS 43 Theater Audio Video Design in California

In late 2012, the Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) opened the doors to its two new Performing Arts Education Centers located at Calabasas High School and Agoura Hills High School in California. The two almost identical theaters were designed by renowned architect John Sergio Fisher & Associates (JSFA). Electrosonic’s Design Consulting team provided the audio system design for the theaters, and also designed the theatrical intercom and video distribution systems. Electrosonic’s audio-visual design was executed by AMT Systems of Santa [Above] Clarita, California. The main theater (photo Ciro Coelho) and the exterior of the Agoura Hills Performing Arts Education Center.

The two state-of-the-art performance venues are used by students, artists, community members, and outside groups. Each center features a 650-seat main stage theater, a Black Box theater to be used as a teaching and performance space with accommodation for up to 100 seats, a full orchestra pit with a hydraulic lift, and professional acoustics, lighting and sound systems.

Understanding that the facility would be used by both students and visiting professional theater companies, Electrosonic designed a system that employs current digital and analog technologies without being overly complicated. This allows theater students to establish a solid foundation in their knowledge of the system, without compromising the higher functionality required by outside theater professionals.

The Yamaha M7CL-48ES audio console is used for the main stage in both locations, and the LS9-16 console is used in the black box theaters; both chosen for quality, reliability and stability and because Yamaha’s digital consoles are prevalent in the theater industry worldwide. They are perfect for training newcomers to the world of audio, and at the same time are consoles that meet the needs of exacting industry professionals.

Cobranet® audio output from the consoles is sent to a Peavey MediaMatrix Nion DSP system, which then sends the signal to the amplifiers. Electrosonic specified QSC ILA line array speakers and subwoofers for stage left and right. The pit rail and stage lip areas have additional front fill speakers. The reverberation time in the theaters can be changed with variable mechanical acoustics designed by JSFA.

Electrosonic designed the intercom system using a Clear-Com Encore master station in the control booth, and wall station and headset stations in the stage area, the dressing rooms, and throughout the production space. The paging system, which also handles all paging announcements from the [Above] The main theater (photo Ciro Coelho) and the existing school buildings, is handled by a Peavey PageMatrix connected to exterior of the Calabasas Performing Arts the MediaMatrix. Education Center.

44 ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM The work completed for the LVUSD (see story, left) was preceded by two other projects where the same architect, John Sergio Fisher & Associates (JSFA) was involved, and where Electrosonic’s Design Consulting team provided the AV system design. At Las Positas Community College in Livermore, CA, the project consisted of an upgrade to the college’s existing theater and music classroom areas. Electrosonic provided design specifications for AV equipment and infrastructure. The installation was done by the college’s technical staff and McKinney Audio Visual of San Francisco.

Another upgrade project was at Santa Barbara City College. This project consisted of an upgrade to the college’s existing theater and music classroom areas. The theater redesign was done by JSFA and Electrosonic provided design specifications for AV The 500 seat Garvin Theater at equipment and infrastructure. The Santa Barbara City College (right, Installation was done by DMX from photo Ciro Coelho). The 464 seat main theater at Las Positas Austin, Texas, with support from Community College (above, photo Jensen Audio of Santa Barbara. Timothy Griffith).

Electrosonic Design Consulting

This is a specialist team within demonstrations, projection geometry The Electrosonic Design Consulting office Electrosonic that provides AV studies, facility impact documentation area at the Los Angeles Headquarters. design services on an independent and budgeting. basis. While some projects go on Electrosonic continuously researches to be completed by Electrosonic’s and tests new and existing Systems Integration teams, there is technologies to guide clients to the no obligation for this to be the case. right solution for their project. It The theater design projects described can provide technology evaluations on these pages are examples – in all and equipment mock-ups to test cases, the Electrosonic designs were the feasibility and demonstrate the realized by others. functionality of any proposed system. The Electrosonic Design Consulting Major theater space projects where AT&T Dolphin Tales. Photo: Georgia Aquarium. team provides expert advice and Electrosonic Design Consulting technical design services to owners, worked with the client to produce architects, exhibit designers budgeted designs before tender and general contractors. Design include The Typhoon Theatre in consultants begin by carefully Singapore (see P.31), the Nature analyzing the drawings provided by Research Center (see P.24), the the exhibit designers or architects, Victory Theater at the WWII Museum, and design systems that will achieve and AT&T Dolphin Tales at Georgia the creative intent. A wide range Aquarium (see ELECTROSONIC of services are provided including WORLD No 16 for full descriptions The Victory Theater at the National World equipment specifications, technology of these). War II Museum, New Orleans.

ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM 45 Canada, Disney, Universal & Warner Bros. Thea Win Awards

Every year the Themed Entertainment Association presents its [Clockwise from Top Left] The entrance to Transformers: Thea Awards to outstanding themed attractions from around the The Ride-3D in Hollywood. world. These are highly respected because comparatively few of the The entrance to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter. award submissions succeed. The awards are given to the attractions The entrance to Transformers: The Ride-3D themselves, not to their creators; however, the contribution of the in Singapore during construction. creators is fully acknowledged in the souvenir program. The entrance to Radiator Springs Racers. Photo by Harshlight – wikicommons.

At the awards ceremony held in Los Angeles in April Electrosonic’s work at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is 2013, four attractions to which Electrosonic made a described on Page 42. Unfortunately, it is not possible to major contribution won Thea Awards. They were: describe in any detail Electrosonic’s contribution to the other Thea Award-winning attractions owing to non- Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame disclosure agreements in place. Calgary. Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement - Museum. However, in the souvenir program of the Awards event, the attractions concerned do give a full list of credits, and Radiator Springs Racers these credit Electrosonic as follows: Disney California Adventure Theme Park. Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement- Attraction. Radiator Springs Racers Electrosonic Inc; Low Voltage Installation. Transformers: The Ride-3D Universal Studios, Hollywood. Transformers The Ride: Transformers: The Ultimate 3D Battle. Universal Studios Singapore. The Ride-3D (Hollywood and Singapore) Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement - Attraction. Electrosonic Inc: Projection.

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Studio Tour Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter. Thea - The Making of Harry Potter: Award for Outstanding Achievement - Studio Tour. Electrosonic UK: Exhibit AV installation and programming.

46 ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM Peoria’s GIANT Screen

The GSX™ projection system in the Giant Screen Theater.

The Giant Screen Theater is a major attraction at the Peoria The GSX™ source system includes a Riverfront Museum (Peoria, Illinois) which opened in October 2012. Qube DCI server and two Qube 4K It was the first installation by Electrosonic’s Global Immersion Integrated Media Blocks (IMB) for showing Hollywood and DCI movies, Division to feature its GSX™ Giant Screen Cinema System. This is and two Global Immersion GSX™ unique in being able to show films in both DCI cinema format and in servers for the “big screen” content. the emerging DIGSS giant screen formats in 2D and 3D. Digital audio in both cases is fed to the 14,400-watt Legacy Audio system, which was installed by PRM’s main AV Systems Integrator, Zdi Inc. The Peoria Riverfront Museum (PRM) However, this presents a major is a center for art, history and science. problem because films come in Typical programming in early 2013 It is affiliated to the Smithsonian different formats (see box “Film included the National Geographic “Sea Institution and it brings a powerful Formats” on Page 49). Fortunately, Monsters – a Pre-historic Adventure” cultural presence to the region. It Global Immersion’s GSX™ provides in 3D filling the big screen during the embodies both a museum and a a system which can automatically day, and “Les Miserables” showing in planetarium in addition to the Giant change formats as required, and the evening. Screen Theater. it does this with a combination of optical, mechanical and software Venues like the PRM rely on repeat technologies called ImageFusion™. visits to be viable, and to help make this happen, its theater facility must The screen at PRM is 70 × 52ft provide changing content to attract (21.3 × 15.8m). It is a “silver screen” audiences. PRM is able to access suitable for 3D, served by two Barco high quality content that has been 4K cinema projectors each rated produced for big screen presentations for 32,000 lumens light output and in science centers, museums and fitted with the custom optical system. attractions worldwide, but realized RealD™ 3D switching filters with XL that if it could also show the latest light recovery are installed to allow Hollywood blockbusters as evening the use of passive glasses. The system programming, it would not only help achieves an exceptional 6-ftL screen itself, but also provide a valuable luminance in 3D. The GSX™ projection system in the Giant Screen amenity for the city. Theater.

ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM 47 GSX TM FulldomeTM Comes to San Diego

The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, CA, opened 40 years ago and was famed for its “tilted dome” planetarium which also featured the first installation of the IMAX® giant screen 70mm film projection system within a dome. The theater, now called the Heikoff Dome Theater, has recently been upgraded; in 2008 it had a new “Nanoscreen™” seamless screen surface installed, and in 2012 it was equipped with an all digital projection system - Global Immersion’s GSX™Fulldome™. The theater now runs both digital and film dome presentations.

48 ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM Film Formats

Film formats are defined by the number of pixels in the display, the number of bits per pixel per color, the aspect ratio and the frame rate. Display performance is specified in respect of screen luminance, intra-frame and inter-frame contrast, primary color co-ordinates and white point.

Most films are distributed to meet the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) specification. The majority are in “2K” format and are shown at aspect ratios of 1.85:1 (standard) or 2.39:1 (wide screen, popularly Cinemascope®) using 1998 × 1080 and 2048 × 858 pixels, respectively. Premium installations and big screens use the “4K” format where the pixel count is 3996 × 2160 and 4096 × 1714.

The interests of owners of special venue theaters with large screens are represented by the Giant Screen Cinema Association. This association defines giant flat or curved screens as being 70ft (21.3m) or greater in width, and giant dome screens as domes of 60ft (18.3m) or greater in diameter. It is developing the DIGSS (Digital Immersive Giant Screen Specification) to ensure high standards and to facilitate content exchange. The rationale for an all digital system is compelling. While DIGSS follows DCI as far as is practicable, Most show content for planetariums and related an obvious problem arises when a giant screen is astronomical and space shows is generated on required (as is often the case) to be of 4:3 aspect computer, often by the very scientists who are ratio, given that the native resolution of cinema working on the front line of astronomy research. It projectors is at best 4096 × 2160. is therefore more practical to keep everything in the digital domain, especially when a system like GSX™ Another problem is that venues like PRM also want Fulldome™ can scale the content to fit the dome. The to show “non film” content like High Definition GSX™ system also looks after the blending of images video, live event relays, etc., which are likely to be in from multiple projectors and any geometry correction HD video format with 16:9 aspect ratio. required. Global Immersion’s GSX™ solves the problem giving The projectors are located in the center of the users access to all the main formats, and delivering theater, and Global Immersion’s scope of work a true 4096 × 3072 pixel count to 4:3 screens. included the design of an insulated steel enclosure. Global Immersion also offers GSX™ Dome™ and This enclosure, supported by the precision GSX™ Fulldome™ to meet the needs of dome engineered projector mounting solution, monitors theaters. These systems typically require four 4K and maintains a 20°C (68°F) ambient temperature, projectors and customization to match the particular and also provides acoustic isolation. Show playback site. is from eight Global Immersion servers that play out uncompressed digital images. The visualization above shows the projection concept.

[Left] Heikoff Dome Theater, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, showing ‘Cosmic Collisions’ by the American Museum of Natural History.

ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM 49 Planetarium in Turkey, Colorado & Systems New York

On these pages, three recent planetarium installations are described, all using the Fidelity Bright™ system, one of four high performance systems from the proprietary Fidelity™ planetarium ranges by the Global Immersion Division of Electrosonic.

Sabanci Planetarium, Turkey

The Sabanci Planetarium in the Eskisehir Science, Arts and Culture Park in Turkey opened in April 2012. It was funded by the Sabanci Foundation and Cimsa (a cement company, and subsidiary of Sabanci Holdings). Global Immersion designed and integrated the comprehensive digital fulldome and custom audio system.

The dome provides a 180° × 360° field of view, and is 14m (46ft) in diameter. It accommodates 96 visitors. The screen is an “Ultimate Seam” planetarium screen from Astro-Tec.

Projection is by a Global Immersion Fidelity Bright™ 4K system. The dome size is such that this can be achieved using only two projectors (JVC DLA-SH7NLG) with custom fulldome lenses and optical image blending. The projectors are sourced from a Global Immersion Media Server solution.

The latter includes an audio server that feeds a Peavey MediaMatrix NION digital audio processor, and in turn feeds ten Crown DSi 2000 amplifiers and two DSi 4000 amplifiers. JBL 4732 professional theater loudspeakers are used for the main channels and JBL 4642A are used for sub-bass.

Global Immersion also integrated an LED lighting system for the cove, wireless microphones for live presenters, and a theater control system with a portable color touch screen. The user interface is presented in both the Turkish and English languages.

To maximize the functionality of the planetarium, real-time Digital Universe software is installed for data visualization, allowing the system to operate as a manually controlled, presenter-led planetarium, or as a film playback dome environment. Finally, Global Immersion provided seven complete pre-recorded planetarium dome shows with long-term licenses, mostly with both English and Turkish narration. Show producers included Spitz Creative Media, Loch Ness Productions, Mirage3D, NSC Creative, the American Museum of Natural History and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

50 ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM Cradle of Aviation Museum

Since 1980, the Cradle of Aviation Museum in East Garden City, New York, has stood as a popular public attraction, serving The Planetarium the local community and beyond with what has grown to be a The “Digital Planetarium” is now practical collection of more than 75 air and space craft. because of the great advances in projection Located on land renowned for many historic flights, the and computer technology in recent years. museum collaborates with regional schools to stimulate and However, the choice of technology is difficult support interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and depends on the venue’s programming, its subjects (STEM). need for high resolution and contrast, and, of The museum’s dome theater has housed the Leroy R. & Rose course, budget. For this reason, the Global W. Grumman Giant Screen dome theater since 2002. Now, the Immersion Division of Electrosonic offers a dome has been upgraded to include a state-of-the-art digital range of solutions for domes varying from planetarium system, and serves as a dual-purpose theater 16.4ft to 98.4ft (5m to 30m) in diameter and which re-opened in October 2012. beyond.

Named after its sponsors, this new JetBlue Sky Theater offers Resolution in a dome is best measured by “arc extensive functionality and a means to virtually transport minutes per pixel”, the lower the better. The visitors to any destination in the Cosmos. Global Immersion Fidelity GO™ system is a lower cost system again supplied a Fidelity Bright™ system but this time the built around LED-projection technology for 75ft (22.9m) dome uses a six-channel configuration using smaller theaters with resolution between 3.3 projectiondesign F32 projectors. and 5.4. The most widely integrated Fidelity Bright™ system is offered with resolution from 1.6 to 2.8. At the top of the line is the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery 8K range of systems, or the Digital Starball™ The new Museum of Discovery in Fort Collins, Colorado, system, which is designed to emulate the features the OtterBox Digital Dome Theater. It features traditional opto-mechanical planetarium mixed programming with shows like “Dynamic Earth” running projector - with a resolution in the range of alongside more astronomy oriented shows like “Cosmic 1.3 to 1.7. Given the lighting conditions, this Journey”. Its 36-foot (11m) dome features a Spitz NanoSeam® range is approaching the limit of human visual aluminum perforated screen providing a 162° vertical field of perception. view. The whole dome is on a 20° tilt. Top end systems require much greater This is another Global Immersion Fidelity Bright™ installation contrast (not usually relevant to conventional using a five-channel projector configuration (projectiondesign projection in business or exhibit applications). FL35 DLP™ LED). The use of LED illumination eliminates the Fidelity Bright™ systems typically use need for lamp changing. In common with other current Global projectors with 8 – 10,000:1 contrast. Immersion installations, the user interface is available both at However, Fidelity Black™ and Digital a conventional computer screen and via an iPad™. This allows Starball™ systems have used projectors with the operator complete freedom of movement throughout the 1,000,000:1 contrast. facility. Such a high contrast can best be achieved by LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) technology, and using an additional “black” modulator. [Left Top to Bottom] The Sabanci Planetarium in the Eskisehir Science, Global Immersion led the way using the Arts and Culture Park, Turkey. patented Rockwell Collins 2015HC four- [Above Left and Center] A real Moon Lander is a key exhibit in The Cradle of Aviation Museum, on Long Island, New York. panel projector to achieve the contrast required. [Above Right] The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and control position in its OtterBox Digital Dome Theater.

ENTERTAINMENT, GIANT SCREEN & PLANETARIUM 51 USA United Kingdom Other Countries

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